The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

An ‘urban sanctuary’ is how this supremely metropolitan hotel likes to describe itself. Unlike its nearby big sister – the Mandarin Oriental – the Landmark is boutique-sized, with just 113 guestrooms, but it packs a major punch in both style and food.

Location

This really is the epicentre of Hong Kong’s shopping and business district. The Landmark shopping mall is aptly-named: it’s a pivotal point from which covered walkways radiate off to all corners of Central (including to the Mandarin Oriental, a few minutes’ stroll away). In Hong Kong’s brutal summer humidity, that’s a definite asset. Central MTR station is directly beneath the mall, and you can walk from the hotel to the Airport Express at Hong Kong station without ever leaving an air-conditioned environment.

The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong via Booking.com

Style & character

The sleek entrance to the hotel, all polished wood and curves, is supposed to resemble a yacht. You ascend a short flight of stairs – or a lift for disabled guests – into the lobby leaving behind the surging wave of humanity on Hong Kong’s streets. The small reception area has the fragrant air of a boudoir (there’s even an entrance to a Dior showcase for VIP customers) and is lined with fashion tomes. Half of Hong Kong passes through the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental but the Landmark Mandarin feels a good deal more discreet and secluded.

Service & facilities

Pretty faultless. The hotel prides itself on attending to all needs and is noticeably attentive to single travellers. The staff is good at greeting you after a short time in residence. (As is often the case in Hong Kong’s top hotels, more misanthropic types may find the constant good cheer slightly exhausting.) There’s an 18-metre heated indoor swimming pool, a decent-sized gym and a weekly schedule of yoga and Pilates classes. Best of all, it also has an excellent, and enormous, spa on two floors.

Bar

Fitness centre

Laundry

Parking

Pool

Restaurant

Room service

Sauna

Spa

Wi-Fi

The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong via CPP-LUXURY

Rooms

As part of the hotel’s first-decade celebrations, there’s been a complete redesign of all the rooms and suites. These are some of the biggest guest rooms (and bathrooms) in the city and the combination of low-key colours, high-end fabrics and streamlined furniture has increased that luxurious sense of spaciousness. Everyone gets a Nespresso machine plus a glass chilled-cabinet (a ‘vitrine’) in which complimentary daily treats from two-Michelin-starred restaurant Amber are safely stored.

If you’re inclined to claustrophobia, you may find it difficult being hemmed in by buildings as there’s no open view but the Hong Kong nightscape is dazzling and all rooms have 48-inch (55-inch in the suites) television screens for further distraction. The padded, curving headboards – with proper reading lights – contribute to the pleasurable effect of a cocoon. Go for a higher floor if you’re particularly noise sensitive.

Food & drink

There are two dining areas – MO Bar and Amber. MO Bar is very popular with locals as well as guests; it’s on the ground floor, and has a pleasant buzz throughout the day starting with a great breakfast buffet, moving through lunch and afternoon tea and on to a vast selection of cocktails (globally-recognised mixologists are regularly imported). Amber is a Michelin-starred, World’s 50 best-listed restaurant, which serves the sort of divinely-inspired food you never knew your taste-buds desired until you’d sampled it.